It’s time for the 1H 2025 eDiscovery Business Confidence Survey, published (as always) on Rob Robinson’s terrific ComplexDiscovery site! Where does the confidence of individuals working in the eDiscovery ecosystem stand when compared to previous surveys? Let’s see.

As always, Rob provides a complete breakdown of the latest survey results, which you can check out here. I’ve covered every survey since its inception, which just started its tenth(!) year!

Big New Changes! This year, Rob has changed the cadence of the survey from quarterly to semi-annually. So, this survey is the 1H 2025 survey. Also, this is the first survey released by ComplexDiscovery and EDRM.

While I’m continuing to look at all surveys conducted to look at trends over time, I’m displaying a rolling twelve survey data for clarity as the entire history of more than nine years makes for a very crowded graph. Also, in 2023, Rob added new questions regarding the use of large language models and generative AI, so this is the sixth survey with those questions.

The 1H 2025 eDiscovery Business Confidence Survey response period was between April 10 through May 3, 2025. This survey saw 77 eDiscovery professionals sharing their opinions on the business of eDiscovery. So, let’s get into it!

A More Balanced Group of Respondents: Software and/or Services Provider respondents were the sole leading group for the seventh survey in a row with 40.3% (a ten point drop from last survey’s record of 50.8%). Law Firm respondents were second at 25.97% (4.1% below the lifetime average of 30.1%) with Consultancy respondents third at 11.7%, 4.4% lower than the lifetime average of 16.1%. Corporation respondents were next at 10.4% (2.2% above the 8.2% lifetime average). If you count law firms as providers (they’re technically both providers and consumers), providers account for 77.9% of total respondents (the lowest since Winter 2023). Here’s a graphical representation of the trend over the last twelve surveys:

So, how confident is a more balanced group of respondents in eDiscovery business confidence in the 1H 2025 eDiscovery Business Confidence Survey?  See below.

Big Drop in Current Business: Respondents that considered business to be good dropped quite a bit to 37.7% (14.9% below the lifetime average and the lowest number since Winter 2023). Another 52.0% of respondents consider business to be normal (well above the lifetime average of 39.1%). That leaves 10.4% of respondents who rated business conditions as bad (2.1% below the lifetime average of 8.3% and the highest percentage since the pandemic-influenced Winter 2021). Ruh-roh! Here is the trend over the last twelve surveys:

So, do respondents in the 1H 2025 eDiscovery Business Confidence Survey expect business to rise in six months?  See below.

Pessimism Abounds: Only 83.1% of respondents expect business conditions will be in their segment to be the same or better six months from now (down 16.6% from last survey’s 96.7%, with less than a third – 31.17% – of respondents expecting it to be better. 31.2% expect revenues to be up (a huge drop from last survey’s 57.4%) while 50.7% expect it to be the same (leaving a whopping 18.18% expecting lower revenues). As for profits, respondents expecting higher profits plunged again another 13.3% from the last survey to 26.0% (which is 13.3% lower than the lifetime average of 39.6%), while 57.1% expected flat profits and a whopping 16.9% expected lower profits (which is 4.6% higher than the average and the highest since even deeper in the pandemic in Fall 2020).  Here is the profits trend over the last twelve surveys:

Can we go much lower than this?  We’ll see.

Pessimism Leads to Budget Concerns: Reflecting the pessimism of the numbers, Budgetary Constraints leaped back to the top spot with 36.4%, 10.4% above the lifetime average of 26.0% and the highest since Winter 2021. Increasing Types of Data slipped to second with 22.1% (still 0.9% higher than the lifetime average). Increasing Volumes of Data fell to third with 18.2%, 2.0% lower than its lifetime average of 20.2%. Lack of Personnel Data Security was fourth at 10.4% (1.7% below the lifetime average of 12.1%). Inadequate Technology was fifth at 9.1% (1.8% above the lifetime average of 7.3%). And Lack of Personnel slipped to last at 3.9% (a whopping 9.1% lower than the lifetime average of 13.0%. The graph below illustrates the distribution over the last twelve surveys:

Will a realization of the pessimism keep budget concerns at the top of the heap? We’ll see.

Delivery Rebounds in the Sixth Results on LLM/GAI Benefits: Regarding the question “which do you perceive as the primary benefit of integrating LLMs and GAI into your organization’s operations or offerings?”, Improved Service/Product Delivery was again the top choice at 46.75%, which rose about 2.5 points from last survey’s 44.26%, followed by Cost Savings at 18.18%, about 3.4% higher than last survey’s 14.75%, then Competitive Advantage at 16.88%, about 9.5% lower than last survey’s 26.23%, Enhanced Decision Making at 11.69% rose almost 1.8% from last survey’s 9.84%, with 6.49% seeing No Perceived Benefit, about 1.5% higher than last survey. Risk Mitigation got no votes for the second straight survey!

Looks like the 1H 2025 eDiscovery Business Confidence Survey shows respondents seeing current business slipping, leading to pessimism for at least the next six months. What will happen next survey? Check back here!

Again, Rob has published the results for the 1H 2025 eDiscovery Business Confidence Survey on his site here, which shows responses to additional questions not referenced here.  Check them out.

So, what do you think?  Are you optimistic or pessimistic about eDiscovery business?  Please share any comments you might have or if you’d like to know more about a particular topic.

Image created using Microsoft Designer, using the term “robot wearing swim trunks walking along the beach on a sunny day”.

Disclaimer: The views represented herein are exclusively the views of the author, and do not necessarily represent the views held by my employer, my partners or my clients. eDiscovery Today is made available solely for educational purposes to provide general information about general eDiscovery principles and not to provide specific legal advice applicable to any particular circumstance. eDiscovery Today should not be used as a substitute for competent legal advice from a lawyer you have retained and who has agreed to represent you.